Clinton: Yes, Al Qaeda Was Involved in Libya Attack

Katie Pavlich

9/27/2012 7:55:00 AM - Katie Pavlich

First, it was a random mob upset about a video that spun out of control. Then, it was a planned attack because of a video, but not planned far in advance. Finally, officials in the Obama administration including White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and Hillary Clinton admitted the murders of four Americans inside the U.S. consulate in Libya was in fact a terrorist attack. President Obama still refuses to say the word "terrorist" to describe what happened. Now, Hillary Clinton is suggesting a link between Al Qaeda and the attack. No way, you think? They only raised their black Al Qaeda flag over our consulate in Libya and over the U.S. Embassy in Egypt. I thought that was the first clue weeks ago, not to mention the attack occurred on 9/11 when of course Al Qaeda attacked us in 2001.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested the deadly consulate attack in Libya involved the Al Qaeda affiliate in North Africa, going further than any other Obama administration official has yet in acknowledging the assault was the work of hardened terrorists.

Clinton was speaking to foreign leaders gathered at a meeting convened by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to address the threat of extremism in the region.

“Now with a larger safe haven and increased freedom to maneuver, terrorists are seeking to extend their reach and their networks in multiple directions,” Clinton told the group, according to a New York Times report. “And they are working with other violent extremists to undermine the democratic transitions under way in North Africa, as we tragically saw in Benghazi.”

It wasn't the first time Clinton had referred to the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, as a terrorist attack. But her reference to the group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was notable, especially as President Obama still has yet to publicly refer to the attack as terrorism.

Last night on Real News, S.E. Cupp walked through the Obama administration's response and cover-up of what happened in Libya.

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Meanwhile, sources are telling CNN the U.S. consulate in Libya is still not secure despite administration claims U.S. Marines were on their way to Libya to protect the site weeks ago.

More than two weeks after four Americans -- including the U.S. ambassador to Libya -- were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, FBI agents have not yet been granted access to investigate in the eastern Libyan city, and the crime scene has not been secured, sources said.

"They've gotten as far as Tripoli now, but they've never gotten to Benghazi," CNN National Security Analyst Fran Townsend said Wednesday, citing senior law enforcement officials.

Last Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters that an FBI team had reached Libya earlier in the week.

"In fairness to the secretary, it may be that she wanted to be coy about where they were in Libya for security concerns. That's understandable. But the fact is, it's not clear they've been in Libya for very long," Townsend said on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°."